Saturday, March 18, 2017

When we moved into this house five years ago, we had to remove the
upstairs banister to get some mattresses upstairs. Just today, getting
around to replacing the banister. Not done yet, but here's the score:

Number of trips to the hardware store needed to get the project to this
point: Five, including the one where I chickened out and said they were
out of stuff because it hadn't come in on the truck.

Number of trips to the hardware store today: Two. Fortunately, all in one trip because the first store didn't have the wood buttons I needed.

Number of bolts broken inside the wall and concealed with a wood button: One.

Number of times the 12-year-old was summoned from the basement to help: Four.

Number of times the 12-year-old felt like he was summoned from the basement to help: One million.

Number of cuss words uttered during the four hours it took to get the
project this far: Unknown; currently hanging in space over Lake
Michigan.

Number of screws stripped, bent, or broken: Five.

Number of tools borrowed from the wife: Two.

Number of YouTube videos watched, featuring well-dressed individuals in
sunlit conditions, safety glasses, safety aprons and a safety carnation
at the lapel so they don't look too industrial, using $500 chop saws
and other fancy equipment to complete the job: Six.

REALLY? AS IF IT WERE SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

“Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little. . .”

YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.

“So you can believe the big ones?”

YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.

“They’re not the same at all!”

YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET – Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME . . . RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.